Human Rights Watch
July 17, 2016:
Saudi
Arabia’s male guardianship system remains the most significant
impediment to women’s rights in the country despite limited reforms over
the last decade. Adult women must obtain permission from a male
guardian to travel abroad, marry, or be released from prison, and may be
required to provide guardian consent to work or get health care. These
restrictions last from birth until death, as women are, in the view of
the Saudi state, permanent legal minors. Women in Saudi Arabia face
formal and informal barriers when attempting to make decisions or take
action without the presence or consent of a male relative. As one
25-year-old Saudi woman told Human Rights Watch, “We all have to live in
the borders of the boxes our dads or husbands draw for us.” In some
cases, men use the permission requirements to extort large sums of money
from female dependents. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/16/s...
